Insect play Model and Set

Here are some images of the scale model, and the full size set.

Blunderbus week four

Today I started painting the two poly carved donkeys, for Pinocchio, and finished painting the tortoise.

Insect play "the Pile" continued..

Today I added more to the beetle's "Pile", eventually there will be layers of open weave hessian, more raffia, string, props, e.g books and coins, layers of hand painted and sprayed paint.

Insect play set

Last Thursday I drove to Derby to visit 'Set One' who are building the set for the insect play.
All the set pieces are complete, and being painted, I covered the bases with hessian.
I also scrimmed the first layer of hessian on the 1m diameter polystyrene ball.

Blunderbus week three continued..

I started painting the two chimps for 'Giraffe's can't dance' and had to make and older chimp puppet match the newer ones. This week I also painted a 'Playland' sign for Pinocchio.

Blunderbus week three

In week three I continued painting the puppets, here are the first stages of the Ant eater and the tortoise.
My sea horse from the Rainbow fish was also finally completed this week!

Blunderbus week two

This week I started work on painting the Pinocchio set. It consists of a wooden shed that revolves and turns into many locations including the workshop at the beginning. The set pieces were all primed with white before i started the painting.



We also started to develop about the design for the new show 'Dragon's daughter' Dean and I did some visual research at home to get inspiration for the shape of the hill layers and castle. We carved a simple 1:10 scale model out of polystyrene to help us work out the shape and size of each section, then we scaled this up and drew it out on the floor, so the rest of the team could transfer these shapes onto wood and begin the build.

Blunderbus week one

I started back at Blunderbus last week, the first task was to complete the finishing paint touches to some of the rainbow fish characters.

Shop at Shop

I have a selecion of record bowls and decoupage super hero plates, available to purchase from "SHOP" at Canning circus, and soon to be available online at http://www.viewtheshop.co.uk/

"Shop is a different type of creative agency; it also houses a retail and gallery space which is used to exhibit and sell works by its members and collaborators. It will soon be possible to browse and purchase our products from anywhere in the world.
We also hold regular Open Shop events and launch parties, in which the public can see our work."

Insect play model continued..

Development for army ant scene.

Illustrated plates

Today I bought some amazing pens that allow you to draw onto porcelain, then bake the item in the oven, leaving the design on it permanently. Here are my first attempts!

Insect play initial scale model..

I have started working on the set design for the insect play, this is the initial stage of model making, working out what works and what doesn't in the space.

May 2009

I am currently in the initial design stage for two plays. 'The Insect Play' with the Arts support service Theatre Company in Nottingham and 'Looking For The Rainbow' with Big Window Theatre Company.

'Looking for a Rainbow' is currently at the initial script writing stage, it is really great to have involvement with a play from such an early stage as it is possible to feed ideas into the script, that will work effectively with the eventual style of the design.

The Insect play opens in the first week of July at the Thorsbury Riding hall in Newark.
Looking for the Rainbow will open next year and have a national tour in theatres and some schools.

SJT The Heights Video

The Heights at SJT

Last week myself and the The television workshop cast took 'The Heights' to the Steven Joseph Theatre in Scarburough, the Mc Carthy theatre space. We had one performance as part of the National Theatre Connections festival.

More pericles....

Pericles performance...

York Theatre Royal
Directed by: Julian Ollive

Rehearsal pics

Here's a few more images from the tech rehearsal...

Video of Pericles ship wreck scene..

Pericles tech week and fit up..

Here are some pictures of my Pericles set, for York theatre Royal, it only took a day to put up. the show opens this evening.

week 3 with blunderbus..

I've started painting the set, using layers of watery pain to hopefully create a rock effect, with highlights and low lights to show depth.

I have almost finished Prunella, she has all her fins and features and just needs some internal structure and sticking back together ready for painting.

I also sketched lots of designs for shadow puppets, which will be cut out of plasterzote (sheets of polyethylene block foam).

The Heights Performance

Blunderbus - Rainbow fish, week two

Week two of Blunderbus fun! this week I carved two more sea horses and started carving a big fish called Prunella.

Blunderbus - Rainbow fish, week one

This week I have been working with a Theatre company called Blunderbus, on their new show 'The Rainbow Fish'. I have been working with a range of materials, from fabric to polystyrene. Today i have spent the whole day designing three sea horse puppets and almost finished carving the first one.

The Heights set continued..

I have completed all the paper on the wall, I need to do a few more washes and pick out more particular pieces of paper. The floor still needs a few glazes of a thin leather lake wash and the bed needs painting.

Alley cafe Exhibition...03 09

Today i set up an exhibition of my work in the Alley cafe, Nottingham. Including two new ranges of decorative plates, superhero comics, and flying birds.

Exhibition runs until the end of March.
Prices range from £4 - £20

The Heights set continued..

The back wall is nearly completed, all the paper is attached and two of the three entrances are complete. The suspended birds are in place and the free standing frame and bed entrance are built. It will take roughly 2/3 days to finish all the paint effects on the set and props.

The Heights set buildng...

Burglars final set..

Here are some images of the final set, created with a £200 budget, but using props and some set pieces from the playhouse stock. The floor is from a previous show by Laura McEwen and I cannot take credit for that! The biggest cost was the fabric and polystyrene architrave.

Burglars model box and initial set..

Pericles final model continued...

I have added hand rails, extra wood supports around upper levels, finished gangway, developed main sail, developed curtain under platform, added props and boxes/crates and added a finishing net.

Pericles final model continued...

Pericles final model continued...

Pericles final model...

My very tidy desk...

I've been working on the platform's wooden deck, using a combination of very thin wood veneer, balsa wood, varnish and paint.

The Heights Model continued..

I've worked into the texture and colour of the floor, added a cut out window to the back wall and developed the downstage narration area.

The Heights Model continued..

I have added a wall covered in layers of paper, developed the floor, which is still unfinished, i would like the floor to be more of a pale green/turquoise shade in the center, the bed still needs more work and will eventually resemble a more detailed frame, (cast iron look). There are still 3 more masks to complete and design elements of costume to accompany them.